Former Cyclist Floyd Landis Admits Defrauding Fund Donors

By Edvard Pettersson -
Aug 24, 2012

Former cyclist Floyd Landis, an ex-
teammate of Lance Armstrong who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de
France title because of doping, admitted to defrauding donors to
his legal defense fund and agreed to pay more than $475,000 in
restitution.

Landis, 36, admitted at a hearing today in federal court in
San Diego that he defrauded 1,765 people who had given money to
his Floyd Fairness Fund by falsely claiming he hadn’t used
performance-enhancing drugs during his professional cycling
career, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy said in a statement.

An American Arbitration Association panel in 2007 upheld
findings by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that Landis had tested
positive for testosterone. The arbitration ruling led to Landis
being banned from the sport for two years. Court records show
that Landis spent more than $2 million to fight the doping
allegation, including money from the Floyd Fairness Fund,
according to the statement. Landis in 2010 admitted he had used
performance-enhancing drugs.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title after a
positive drug test, said in 2010 that he and Armstrong were
among members of the U.S. Postal Service-sponsored team who used
illegal substances to boost their performance during the most
prestigious professional cycling event.

Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, said
yesterday he won’t submit to arbitration to defend against the
Anti-Doping Agency’s allegations that he used performance-
enhancing drugs. The agency said yesterday in response to
Armstrong’s decision that it has stripped the 40-year-old of his
titles and banned him from the sport for life.

Three Years

The deferred-prosecution agreement means that Landis
doesn’t have to enter a guilty plea and has three years to pay
the restitution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip Halpern said in
a phone interview. If Landis fails to repay the donors, the
Justice Department can continue prosecuting him, Halpern said.

Landis is charged with one count of wire fraud for which he
could be sentenced to as long as 20 years in prison if
convicted, according to the U.S. attorney’s statement.